Beyond the Stars
by iwishiwasatcamphalfblood1999
Summary: Nova Larsen joined the Galaxy Garrison for two reasons: to escape her family and to make a difference. After meetingTakashi Shirogane and Matt Holt those dreams seemed in reach. Everything was fine until her two best friends disappeared on a trip to the moon. Desperate to find them she joins the Paladins of Voltron.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! So I have been out of the Voltron fandom for so long but I remembered how much I love Matt Holt. So I created this story. This fanfic is going to be mainly a series of noncanon events. I will keep the overall plot line of the show, the characters and the settings but alot of things will be changed. I am sort of ignoring the characters ages and any specifics about science and space in an attempt to not sound ignorant and in hopes of creating certain relationships between characters. This story will also be oc focused. **

**I do not own Voltron Legendary Defender if I did Adam would be alive.**

Nova was used to being an outsider at school. The private academies her parents had enrolled her in were designed for biologist or chemists or anyone preparing for the medical field. Those prestigious schools had left her with a few friends and a lot of anatomy notes. Despite sharing the same classes with the same people for 12 years, she felt more comfortable stepping into the entrance of the Galaxy Garrison than any other school she attended. Dozens of scientific minds gathered around, looking at rolling creations that hoped to go into space. She noticed a group of young kids, maybe 10 years old, who were watching an older student giving his machine commands and cheering when they were executed. Nova found herself walking towards the crowd until her mother's shrill voice cut through the noise.

"Where do we go?" Her mother's harsh voice cut through her daydream as she searched for the orientation desk. Nova had been leading her family through the crowded hallways of her new school, aware of her parents' irritation and her younger sisters disinterest. She tried not to let their probably anger faces phase her.

"Over here." She pointed to a tent in front of her future dorm building. All the suitcases and clothes had luckily fit in the large bin provided by the campus so Nova only had a little bit of difficulty plotting a course to get through the number of families surrounding hers. She winced as the crate got close to this one man but she was luckily able to maneuver it away.

"Hi." She greeted quietly as her family followed her to the desk. Her mother, father and sister stood behind her like her own personal entourage.

"Hello! Welcome to Jacobs Hall! Can I have your name for your room." After giving the girl her name Nova held the key to her future in her hands.

"It's up here." She motioned down the hall to her family as they gave her unimpressed looks but followed her regardless.

When Nova applied to the Galaxy Garrison her main reason was to get away from her family. Sure she loved space and always wanted to feel the vast nothingness of the cosmos but she also wanted to do something her parents thought was wrong for her. Looking back her application had been the result of an impulsive decision fueled by her mother's most recent rant about the importance of being a surgeon, a career that Nova had no interest in. Nova was the one who wanted to be an astronaut rather than a doctor, so when the Garrison started sending out applications to their emailing list Nova signed right up. She had been lucky that the top grades required for a doctor where also needed to be admitted into the Garrison. She guessed she owed a thanks to her parents.

In her family she had always been the odd one out. She was the dreamer in a family of realists and that was obvious to anyone who saw them. She even looked different from them. Her sister shared her mother's pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her father's light brown was shades lighter than Nova's rich brown color. They were all so serious which was opposite of Nova's constant curiosity of the world, which led her to stop during walks to look around while her family kept walking. She did admire them though, nothing ever stood in their way.

"Make sure you let me know what you're up to." Nova nodded at her mother who was looking down at her oldest daughter. "And if there's anytime you want to come home and try nursing we'll support you." There it was. Nova looked over at her father, who held his wife's shoulder, nodding at his daughter and she looked to her sister, who was smiling down at her phone.

"Got it."

The goodbye itself was unemotional. Nova's sister hugged her, telling her that she'd miss her older sister, her father gave her a pat on the back and her mother just nodded.

She had met Matt and Shiro almost immediately after her parents and sister left. It was a nice change from her statue like family to the two people who'd make her life fun. Before her family left she had been given some last pieces of advice: she wouldn't make friends dressed like a slob and to make sure her hair was neat and her makeup wouldn't run. They helped her unpack, met her roommate Lauren and had enough time to talk to Iverson before heading back. They had loved her roommate with her shiny hair and rich vocabulary, even she shared a striking resemblance to her sister. By the time they left Nova felt like an intruder in a touching family moment seeing her mother's open acceptance of Lauren.

She met Shiro first, physically running into him as she scurried away from a group of girls who looked like they had nothing better to do then tease her on her frizzy hair or her freckles.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" She said, looking up in utter embarrassment to see a tall, Asian boy smiling down at her.

"Hey. It's okay. You were just over excited. New school, huh?"

"Yeah. And the fact I was trying to hide from these girls who looked like they'd eat my insecurities for breakfast." Nova tended to ramble when she was embarrassed, an unfortunate event given that it caused her even more embarrassment.

"Well if they bug you let me know. I'm Takashi Shirogane but you can call me Shiro." He held out his hand. Nova hesitated for a moment, unsure what to do.

" I'm Nova Larsen." She shook his hand. She smiled as Shiro welcomed her to the school. He explained the first year dorms and how he had spent the summer in a prestigious internship for the Garrison so if she had any questions he was the person to ask.

" See you around." He nodded at Nova as she waved.

"Bye"

Okay maybe if she made one friend she could get through this. If Shiro, a complete stranger, was kind to her maybe others would too. Everyone was new here, how hard could it be to make friends. This was what she wanted right. To do something extraordinary. She went back to her dorm where her roommate had already invited someone over.

"Hi. I'm Sarah." She was a tall blonde with bright blue glasses and matching eyes. She looked like her sister too.

"Hey. I'm Nova" She responded, quickly straightening up the area of her desk that was already full of welcome papers.

"Wow. Great name. So what are you here for?"

"Engineering. But I'm looking for a pilots position." It was a monotonous answer but one that Nova liked quoting.

"Wow. That's cool. I'm in communications." Nova was just about to reply when her roommate interjected.

"Hey Sarah, we should go." Lauren started dragging her away as she ignored her roommate.

"Nice to meet you Nova. There is a freshman meet and greet in the library if you want to come." Nova wished she missed Lauren's incredulous look.

"I'll think about it."

Nova waved goodbye and started re-organizing her room. Everything was set up in precise lines which Nova didn't think represented the chaos of her life.

There was a knock at the door. Nova assumed it was either an RA or that Lauren had locked herself out. She got up to get the door only to find a short, brown haired boy standing in front of her.

"Hey. I'm Matt Holt. I live just down the hall and I was introducing myself to all the rooms."

"I'm Nova." She replied slowly, unsure how to respond.

"Cool name. Is your roommate here?"

"No. She went out to the freshman welcome thing. Her name is Lauren by the way. If you see someone on this floor you don't recognize."

He smiled at her and there was a brief silence between them as the two stood awkwardly in front of each other. " Are you going to go to the freshman thing?" He asked, Nova couldn't be sure if he was mocking her disinterest or not.

Nova wasn't sure. Her idea of a fun time was staying in her room, watching netflix. But she knew if she wanted to survive the school she had to make friends. "Probably. I don't know anyone here."

"Cool. Want to come with me?"

During the walk to the library they engaged in the mandatory small talk. She learned that he had a sister, Katie who he called Pidge and a dog Bae Bae. He told her how much smarter Pidge was than him and how it was her dream to go here too. He told her about the time when Pidge was being picked on for her intelligence leading to a discussion about what is valued in society.

Nova mostly listened. Matt was so enthusiastic she almost didn't need to say anything. She did mention her sister and her parents wish for her to be in the medical field. And at the mention of Bae Bae she brought up how cats are better. And she's had one named Barry for ten years.

"Wow. I bet he misses you now."

"Probably. I'm the only one he actually liked."

They made it to the mixer only to be bombarded with fellow students questioning them on everything. Nova saw Lauren and Sarah and gave an awkward wave only to have them ignore her. Matt quickly started talking to everyone. He had mentioned how in high school he was ostracized for his intelligence. "I'm not bragging," he had said. "but I focused more on science than sports so it paid off." Nova felt a little awkward following him around the whole night but he didn't seem to mind. She was able to meet at least a dozen people she had conversations with. That being said it wasn't a very large school and the forty in their grade would spend the next few years in all the same classes but she was already starting to feel like she belonged here. She fell asleep knowing that the impulsive decision that caused her to attend the Galaxy Garrison was the right one and she was ready to explore the world.


	2. Chapter 2

Luckily for Nova the same students she had met at the mixer we just as enthusiastic to see Nova outside of the library. Her first day of classes she had found a great seat with people surrounding her. She waved at Matt as he walked in, he smiled back but chose to sit in the very front of the classroom. Bridgette, the girl sitting next to Nova, had informed Nova that she had completed the entire reading for the semester.

"We only had to read the first chapter." Nova whispered, on the verge of panic.

"No one ever just reads one chapter." Bridgette had a way to make even the most prepared student nervous. Nova gave her an untrusting look but stopped once she noticed the pages of notes her classmate had written.

"Don't worry about her," The boy sitting next to her said. " I went to high school with her and she never got below a 100."

Nova nodded, not entirely comforted.

The Garrison was overwhelming at times. Nova wasn't used to such a strict schedule. There were regular wake up times, breakfast then hours of classes followed by open study sessions and extracurriculars. As a future engineer she had to join their club, which usually consisted in study parts of the ships they'd be working in and solving issues on hand.

She had excelled in the class, she never knew what she was doing but it seemed right. Eventually she got the hang of calling the tools by their name and diagnosing an issue by hearing the machine hum.

Early in the school year all the students were split up into groups of 3. As strange as it sounded the groups were not chosen out of skill. "Anyone can learn to fix a ship and fly." Iverson had explained. "But no one can learn to put up with each other." The class had looked around exchanging confused glances. Their question had been answer as they were sat down to complete a rigorous personality test that would create groups full of compatible students.

"It seems stupid," Lauren had complained the night after the test. "I mean, I don't want to be paired off with strangers." Nova thought that seemed unlikely. It seemed like Lauren knew everybody at the school, even the fourth years who were seconds from graduating.

"I guess if the groups don't work you can talk to the dean." Nova was met with an incredulous stare but she just shrugged.

"We'll start off with the pilot everyone wants to be in a team with." Nova, and the entire class, knew Iverson was talking about Shiro, even with a week of class the rumors had spread on how talented he was a pilot. It had also helped that he was years ahead of the class. Nova would feel bad for anyone paired with him, too many eyes would be on that team.

"Communications: Matt Holt and the engineer: Nova Larsen." She looked over to her teammates. Shiro had a small smile and Matt was enthusiastically waving her over. She gave a small grimace but was met with the small boy jumping on her.

"Welcome to the dream team." Matt exclaimed as he let go of her. "And since we have the teachers own personal god, we'll get an A." Nova smiled at Matt's enthusiasm but laughed as Shiro desperately tried to get Matt to understand that he was just a good pilot because he didn't fool around.

"Sure Takashi," he teased. " even Iverson want to frame a picture of you to put on his wall."

Nova, Matt and Shiro quickly became a close team. Multiple coincidences had made sure the three were in the same place at the same time like when Nova would be leaving the cafeteria and she'd see Matt and Shiro walking right towards her from opposite directions. The first few weeks of their partnership none of them knew how to react to each other. Nova didn't want to insert herself in their lives. But, their friendship seemed unavoidable since being partners entailed that they constantly meet up to work on modules.

One night they were laying on Nova's bed "studying", usually she was able to get work done but the newest material was kicking her ass. Her roommate had gone out and since the library was too quiet, the group couldn't talk like they always did while reviewing notes, they decided to go back to Nova's room, which was fine by her as long as they didn't mind an unmade bed and junk food for dinner. Shiro was reading a magazine on the history of space travel on the end of her bed while Nova and Matt were having an Oreo eating contest while watching Star Wars. Nova quietly quoted A New Hope with five oreos shoved in her mouth, impressed with her own memorization skills she started reinacting scenes.

"Just think how much cooler I'd be if Leia was the Jedi." Nova said, with a mouthful of chocolate. She brought up this topic during every viewing of Star Wars. She had once dressed as Leia for Halloween and even carried around Anakin Skywalker's saber during a drill. She had heard the other girls in her dorm scream and her natural reaction was to fight an intruder. This just ended up creating an embarrassing scenario as the other girls on her floor kept asking her what she was holding. At least Matt had found it amusing, he had called her the chosen one and proceeded to tell the other people on their floor how she'd defeat the sith.

" Yeah. But she wouldn't have hesitated to kill Vader. Especially after his weapon destroyed her planet. It would have been a revenge plot rather than a redemption arc. Luke made Vader turn to the light." Matt replied mouth equally as full. Matt was a big believer in seeing the food in people something Nova tried to understand.

"Very true my young Padawan. Very true." Nova nodded as she turned towards the small screen. His face turned red as her glared at the young girl.

"I'm only a month younger than you."

"And you look it."

"Low blow. It's all genetics." She shrugged noncommittally , grabbing another oreo, stopping when she saw Matt's expression which bordered on hurt.

"What?" She asked softly. She was just met with a faux glare as a piece of Oreo flew towards her head.

"Hey!"

"Guys. We have to do well on the simulation tomorrow or we're going to fail" Shiro stopped their bickering. He always had that effect though normally not on the two of them, who would instead try to distract Shiro more. This time however, they both looked at him. He could silence a room with a look and ,if he was fortunate, could get Nova and Matt to stop talking in a few words.

Matt smiled. "Well yes, that would happen if we don't do well." He then proceeded to knock the magazine from Shiro's hand and made some outrageous impersonation of scolding him.

Nova started to laugh. She never thought that by attending this school 4 months ago that she would have met the two boys. They were everything she wanted in friends when she was growing up. Unfortunately for her their friendship was making her rethink her reasons for going to the Garrison. She knew that if given the chance all three would go into space with no hesitation. But, Nova was beginning to get scared. What if they left and never came back? She didn't want to be the one to disappear.

They ended up not crashing their stimulation doing a decent job at maintaining order in the midst of a crisis. Iverson had given them an appreciative nod, telling the class that this was the team to look out for. Shiro looked relieved when they were given their results but had started scolding his teammates when they had started high giving each other and dancing at their good grade. He had left them soon after without another word leaving Nova and Matt to fend for themselves.

"Hey Nova" A voice said as Nova and Matt walked to the cafeteria to eat.

"Keith. Hi" She wouldn't admit it to anyone but she always had a bit of a crush on Keith. He was always sweet to her which always made her feel worse since others looked over him due to his quick temper and asocial behavior. He was young too, a few years younger than Nova but Shiro has sort of taken him under his wing and let him hang out with them a lot. He was a supposably very talented pilot but with his aggressive nature the teachers were having trouble schooling him.

"Have you seen Shiro around?"

"No sorry. But he must be here somewhere. Probably the library." She was able to stutter out. Keith quickly thanked her and left. And Nova turned to see Matt smirking at her.

" Don't say anything" She threatened as she walked passed Matt.

"I was just going to say that you should talk to him about more than where Shiro is. You've liked him since we got here?"

" It's not that easy. Besides we have nothing in common except for Shiro. Anyway why don't you talk to Lauren?"

"I don't like her." Matt mumbled.

"What? I couldn't hear you.I thought you said that you don't like the girl you've been obsessing over for months" She knew his crush on her had more to do with her clear skin and shiny blonde hair. He tended to like appearances too much, giving Nova no hope that anyone would look her direction since she wasn't a size zero with a perfect face.

"Nothing. You're right. I won't bother you about emo boy anymore. "

Nova smiled at him. " Thanks Matt." After lunch they decided to wander around the Garrison. It was a beautiful day, the sky was bright blue and cloudless making it seem like it went on forever. Nova lived for these days, when she could sit out in the grass and just breath the fresh air.

" So I'm going back to my house this weekend. My parents said you could come. Pidge is really excited to meet you." Nova took a while to answer. She wanted to go but she felt a little awkward, what if his parents didn't like her or he was lying and never asked his parents. That was stupid. Matt told his parents everything. His entire family practically lived on the Garrison.

" Are you sure? Your family might want to spend alone time with you."

Matt laughed and picked some grass from where they were sitting.

" No. They want to meet you. I mean they've met Shiro. And when they visited they met some other friends. But they haven't met the girl who can eat more Oreos than me. "

"Ha. Well I am a fairly accomplished girl."

Nova decided that it would probably do her some good to get out of the Garrison for a few days. Their workload has been getting increasingly more difficult and after researching the different models of the ships the academy produced she needed a break.


	3. Chapter 3

Matt has told Nova to meet him at one of the faculty buildings right after her last class. So, trudging through campus with an overstuffed backpack towards admissions didn't seem so out of place at the garrison, a fact that she was grateful for.

"Third floor, room 315." She muttered to herself as she walked past the open doors. "Okay, wrong way." She turned around seeing the numbers grow larger. As she reached the room she lightly knocked on the door, she was met by her smiling best friend as he motioned for her to walk in.

Standing in the center of the room was a middle aged man who looked nothing like Matt.

"Dad, this is Nova. Nova this is dad." Nova shook her head at his humor but smiled as she shook the older mans hand.

"Sam Holt. Pleasure to meet you. Matt's told us a lot about you."

"Nice to meet you too." She replied, looking around the room. Dozens of metallic pieces were on tables and plenty of screws and machines were surrounding the scraps.

"Dad pretty much fixes what's broken." Matt explained. "He's pretty much the reason we've been able to safely travel within our solar system."

"That's so cool." Nova exclaimed. " it's really amazing how far technology has come, even in the past decade."

They lapsed into silence as Matt's dad finished packing up some papers, Matt had told her they were blueprints for a new machine that could reach outside their system.

" So Nova," Sam asked as they started driving. "What made you join the Garrison?"

" Well I guess I've always been interested in space, I used to want to be an astronaut. So this is pretty close."

"Why, that's great that you are paving a path towards your goal. Now I know you're in a team with Matt and Shiro. What is it you do?"

" I'm the engineer. But Shiro lets me pilot a lot since that's what I wanted to do.I just missed the registration for being a pilot. And I had never flown in my life" Nova had been completely alone when she registered for classes and far out of her depth. Since the orientation for pilots occurred before she signed up for the semester, she'd either have to postpone her admission for a year or go into another field.

Matt took this time to pitch in " She's an amazing pilot. And she can fix practically anything that's wrong with the ship." Nova smiled but shook her head at his words.There had been plenty of times when she was at a loss and it was Matt or Shiro who had pitched in to help. But, despite not remembering all the parts of the ship, she was fairly good at managing to fix what was wrong.

"Well I wish I was good at science and math like you. I don't remember the last time I answered a question right in class." Sam chuckled at that and the rest of the way they exchanged stories about their time at the Garrison. Nova found out that Sam had met his wife, Colleen, while they attended school at the Garrison. He then told Nova the story of their first date, which ended in Matt telling Nova that he had heard the story so often he could recite it by memory.

They soon arrived at the Holt's House. The first thing Nova noticed was a large tree with a tire swing attached. The house itself reminded her of a farm house, a small rectangular building with open space surrounding it. A young girl in a headband came running up as soon as the door of the car shut.

"Matt!" She ran up, throwing her arms around him. Nova smiled and stood to the side, noticing how similar the two siblings looked.

"Hey Pidge, this is Nova." Matt turned his sister's attention to the older girl who was in the middle of kicking rocks away. Nova glanced at Pidge, she was a small girl, so small that she reminded Nova of a young bird, especially with her chirp like enthusiasm.

"Hi." Nova held out her hand, which Pidge took eagerly.

They started walking towards the house with Pidge recalling all the times her brother had missed out on a new invention Pidge had thought of.

"It makes peanut butter sandwiches so much easier to make." She gushed as she explained her idea.

"That's really cool Pidge." Matt responded as he patted her hair.

" So," Pidge started as she turned to Nova. "did your parents name you Nova because they knew you'd be a student at the Garrison?"

"It's not her real name."

"Um. No. My uncle started calling me it when I was younger." She turned to Matt. " And you said you wouldn't bring it up." All he did was shrug his shoulders as he led her to an older woman who looked so much like Matt and Pidge that it made Nova stop for a moment.

"Hi. You must be Nova, Matt has told us so much about you." Nova glanced at Matt who was making a face at his mother, but he quickly stopped when he saw Nova look at him. She grabbed Nova's bag after much protesting and showed Nova where she would be staying, which was on an air mattress in Pidge's room.

"Sorry about the mess." Nova raised her eyebrows at the almost spotless room. The only part that was out fo order was Pidge's desk, which was filled with science books and paper.

"No worries. I like your room." Nova pointed at the stick on stars on the ceiling. "I love that."

Matt's mom, Colleen, had given Nova the tour of the house while Matt and his sister caught up by throwing sticks at their dog, who Nova had to admit was very cute. Matt's entire family seemed so kind, something that sort of unnerved Nova. It reminded her of her family before a large fight would breakout. The house itself wasn't super big. It had three bedrooms a family room and kitchen. It was on this giant plot of property and as far out as Nova looked, everything was flat and grassy. It was peaceful.

After dinner that night Colleen and Sam sent Pidge to bed, albeit with her very angrily stomping up the stairs to showcase her frustration. They then left Nova and Matt alone resting near the fire pit.

"I like your family. They seem really great." Nova said as she tucked a brown strand of her her hair behind her ear. " I don't think I have ever met a family that gets along so well."

"Trust me. It comes from a lot of patience. And it's nice knowing that I can easily defeat them in my mind."

Nova laughed and brought her blanket closer to her face. " I like it here. You can see all the stars."

Matt looked at his companion who sat staring at the night sky, to enamored by the vast space to notice his face as a wave of guilt hit his face knowing that he took for granted the life she had wanted.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day was filled with Nova enthusiastically nodding her head and pretending to understand what the Holt siblings meant when they mentioned anything with computers. Nova was hopeless with technology, strange considering her focus, but she couldn't explain her decision to be an engineer. She could fix things but she would never be able to create things from scratch. She had good instincts, at least that's what her instructor had said, and you can teach anyone with good instincts. The siblings had shown her a small monitor they had built, explaining what all the wires did and how they all connected while Nova stood over the device wondering how neither one of them had gotten electrocuted.

"You can diffuse a bomb don't know how to connect computer wires."

She shrugged. "It's my kryptonite." She then smiled cheekily. "But I'm lucky I have the best friend ever who can fix my laptop."

Matt started laughing until his attention was drawn towards a small hum from the machine.

The siblings then tried to introduce her to their favorite video game, killbot, which was just a small avatar defeating enemies seemingly to reach a treasure. Matt had coached her on the different buttons on the controllers, even telling her what to press as she was playing but she had died spectacularly. He had cheered her on as she fought the bad guy, telling her that she was doing great. "Stop patronizing me." She had replied with a smile on her face. Despite her failure she was having fun.

"New record." Katie has had calmly stated just as Nova's avatar was defeated once again.

"Pidge," Matt warned but Nova just laughed.

"I'm a much better spectator." It was true. She enjoyed watching Matt and Katie play the game. They were both so focused. Katie would lean forward on her feet and mutter to herself while Matt's eyes would narrow and he'd scowl at the screen. She watched as the two siblings surrounded the small screen. Occasionally one of them would cheer or groan at whatever was going on in the game. There didn't seem to be enough buttons for all the abilities their avatars were given.

The three had been so consumed with video games that before they realized the sun had gone down. Colleen has made her way down to the attic, where Matt and Katie's den was, to let them know that dinner would be ready. Matt hopped up to help his mother set dinner, leaving the controller in Nova's hands.

"I think you'd be better than me at this." She held the device out to Katie.

"Probably true, but it is fun watching you fail." Nova laughed as a few moments passed. "Do you like engineering?" Katie continued.

"It's fine," Nova started. " I think everyone wants to be a pilot but I wanted to be more in the background."

"I don't think it's possible for you to blend in."

Nova furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

Katie shrugged. "You don't look like a nerd like everyone else at the school. Plus your on a team with Shiro."

Nova wasn't sure how to respond to the slight compliment. She hadn't realized if anyone at the garrison was "nerdy". "Are you planning to go to the garrison?"

"Yep." Katie smiled. " I'm so excited. I'm going to be in communications and I want to include a device that can detect waves from beyond our own galaxy."

"That sounds amazing."

Nova and Matt were set to leave on Sunday afternoon so they both woke up early in an attempt to force Katie to take Bae Bae on a walk with them.

"Pidge," Matt knocked on the door. "Wake up."

"Open it." Nova whispered.

Matt shook his head. "Have you heard of boundaries."

"Where were the boundaries ten minutes ago when you bathed in to Katie's room to wake me up?" Her arms crossed at the memory of Matt poking her arm until she agreed to get up.

"I thought that'd wake both you and Pidge up." He shrugged before hitting the door again.

"Geez. I'm up." A bleary eyed Pidge opened the door. "I thought if I ignored you you'd go away."

"Not so lucky." Nova whispered as she caught Matt's faux glare.

Unsurprisingly the walk ended with Matt and Katie play fighting in the dirt as Nova watched over the dog, who had practically followed the girl around the entire weekend.

The scene in front of her was so unlike something she'd see at her own home. Her sister, for one, wouldn't be caught dead with mud on her clothes. Her mother and father would, like usual, be too busy at the hospital or in their office reading medical journals. She once had liked it. She liked the quiet stillness of the silver rooms, full of windows and the sterile cleanness of the furniture. When she visited her uncle's house she finally saw what a mess was. The absolute chaos in his living room was enough to make Nova completely interested in how other people lived.

The Holt's reminded her of her uncle. He was usually the center of attention, loud and friendly, with an infectious laugh and dozens of stories. The Holt's had the same openness about them. Nova knew that when it came to them, what you see is what you get, and she was completely happy with that. There was no fake smiles just genuine happiness.

Nova watched as Katie hit Matt in the head with the stick she had been fighting with. Nova let out a laugh which, unfortunately for her, ended when the Holt siblings turned on her. She winced as she realized that her small noise had drawn attention to herself.

"No!" She squealed as she quickly picked up a stick. Desperately she swung the "weapon" smiling as it caught onto Matt's.

She laughed as Matt recreated a scene from Empire, "You killed my father" he cried as Nova yelled.

"No, I am your father."

"Nooo." Matt yelled as he dramatically fell to the floor, allowing Katie to take control. Katie's revenge was short lived as she soon grew tired of the play fighting and instead started teasing her brother on his lack of sword fighting skills. Nova couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun, maybe it was the time that her, Matt and Shiro had snuck out to the commissary after lights out to sneak food and Shiro had ended up falling, covering himself in brownies and ice cream.

"Pidge, we should get cleaned up." Matt told his sister, giving Nova the once over to make sure she wasn't muddy. "You good?"

Nova nodded as she wiped some mud off of her forearm. "I'm not too bad." Nova quickly called to Bae Bae, who had enthusiastically ran to grab a toy once her heard the others having fun.

After cleaning up, Matt dragged Nova up to his room to show her the book he had been ranting about for weeks. His room was exactly as she imagined. Posters of space shuttles and films were taped up. He had a large bookcase that was drowning in all the paperbacks. His desk was cluttered and disorganized.

"You didn't even clean for me?" She jokes as she took a seat on his unmade bed.

"Who do I need to impress?"

Nova laughed.

"Here it is." He yelled in victory as he pulled out a large book. "It about how we are descendants from aliens." He smiled. "Super interesting."

"Final verdict?" Nova asked as she flipped through the pages.

"I mean, have you seen cats, definitely extraterrestrial."

She shook her head. "You just hate cats."

Pidge and Colleen were just about to finish cooking lunch when they walked into the kitchen.

"Perfect timing. We just finished the meatloaf. Where were you two?"

Before either Nova or Matt could answer Pidge interrupted with a sly "they wanted alone time" eliciting a shove from Matt and a blush from his companion.

It hadn't taken long for Nova to realize that the family she wanted was the one sitting across from her. She lived the openness the family had, if she ever had kids she liked to believed she'd raise them with the same love and devotion the Holt's had. Both Sam and Colleen were smart, friendly people and they had welcomed Nova into their home like she belonged. Pidge reminded her of a bullet, she kept going, whether it was building a machine or playing with Bae Bae. Matt was the one who introduced her to this life, and to her he was the most important person.

Unfortunately the weekend ended too soon. Sunday afternoon came around leading to Nova and Matt to pack up their belongings to bring back to school. Nova was excited to see Shiro again but the brief look at the outside world led her to lose motivation in doing her school work.

"Honey, we hope to see you soon." Colleen held on to Nova, petting her hair as she talked.

"Me too." Nova smiled, turning towards the car where Matt and Pidge were saying their goodbyes. As Nova entered the car Pidge yelled a goodbye at her, giving her a wave that Nova reciprocated.

The drive back was full of the same energy as before. Matt and his dad sang to every song that played on the radio while Nova covered her ears and complained when they switched to country music.

Half an hour later Nova was walking down her dorm excited to put on pajamas and watch a movie. One of Matt's friend had dragged him away saying something about confusing physics homework with Matt mumbling apologies at the young girl.

"Hey. I'm back." Nova announced as she walked into her dorm. Lauren was sitting at the desk highlighting some book.

"How was the weekend with your boyfriend?" Lauren smirked, noticing Nova's discomfort at the question.

"We're just friends. And it was fun. How was your weekend?"

"Ugh. I had so much work for Salvanos' class. I was invited to this huge party at the other dorms but I couldn't go."

They made small talk for a few more minutes until Lauren decided to abandon her homework with the plan to dress up and go out with friends.

Nova was then left alone with her favorite movie playing and plenty of popcorn for two people.


	5. Chaoter 5

That Monday Nova found her self waking up to her alarm and dragging herself out of bed to meet Matt and Shiro at breakfast. Any other day she would forgo breakfast in favor of a cup of coffee in her dorm but Shiro had insisted. Because classes started at 8:30 Shiro had asked if they could meet at 7. Groaning at the alarm clock Nova got up to get ready, she threw a little makeup on but the majority of her getting ready was frantically looking for whatever assignment they had due that she misplaced.

One of the best things about Nova was that she was never late. She prided herself on her punctuality, often bringing into light how she was never late. Shiro was usually on time too so when they both arrived at the dining center at 7 they knew they'd have to wait a little while longer for Matt. The first few times the trio would go out Matt offered to walk with her since they lived in the same floor, she had waited 10 minutes for him to knock on the door and she soon discovered she'd rather be on time than late.

Shiro had a authoritative presence, one that Nova would be discouraged to compete with. However she knew that despite his professionalism and reputation he wasn't much different than any of the other students. It was difficult to make him laugh though, a task Matt had taken extremely seriously.

"How was the Holt's?" He greeted as she walked up to him. He looked as put together as usual, uniform neat and clean, hair styled. His book bag was carefully hanging off his shoulder.

She smiled. "Fun. Matt's parents are amazing."

Shiro nodded.

"How was your weekend?"

Shiro paused for a moment. "Productive."

They spent the next few minutes going over an assignment for one of worksheets they had on atmosphere. Nova kept wincing as Shiro named another problem she got wrong.

"Gotta fix that." She muttered, hastily scribbling into her notebook.

"Hey guys!" They both turned as Matt came bounding down the path. Nova laughed as he carefully avoided running into a couple of students. "My bad."

"Sorry I'm late." He grinned. Nova smiled back and ruffled his hair. Shiro nodded in acceptance.

She laughed at his annoyed expression. "It looked too neat."

"Let's eat!" Matt announced as he lead the way into the café.

"Josh and I broke up." Nova spit out half of the coffee in her mouth as Shiro started talking. They had found a table in the mess hall. It was fairly crowded and since Matt demanded on shooting a spot near the waffle maker their choices were limited. Luckily a small tables tucked away in a corner was empty. Shiro was on one side of the table sitting across from Matt and Nova, who had both choked at the confession. Way to be blunt, Nova thought. She recalled how she hadn't even known they were dating until a pretty Asian girl had asked him to coffee, he had replied that he had already gone to coffee with his boyfriend. Unsurprisingly this made the girl walk away while Nova and Matt berated him for never mentioning that he was dating someone.

"It just wasn't working. He kept talking about a future that I never wanted." Nova kept coughing as Matt handed her napkins, which she graciously accepted.

"Well," Nova started as soon as she could breathe. "Maybe things could have been different. But I think you're better off without him." Matt nodded in agreement. Both relieved that the picky boy was now out of their lives.

"I'd be lying if I said it was mutual. But I can understand that we didn't want the same things. And I suppose I didn't feel like myself in the relationship anymore." Nova nodded in understanding, despite having no experience in a relationship she had some friendships that had fizzled out once she realized she was spending too much time criticizing other girls with her friends and once she had realized that she became friends with those they had been teasing.

"Are you okay?" Nova asked carefully, Shiro had a tendency to stick with things, no matter how damaging. She only hoped that the decline of the relationship hadn't been going on for a while.

"I will be. I just thought I'd let you two know seeing as you spent a lot of time with Josh." He gave a sad smile noticing his friend's concerned faces.

Nova reached across the table to grab his hand as Matt offered Shiro half of his bagel.

"Really? You're going to give him your bagel? He eats nothing but bananas and oatmeal." Matt then made a big show of presenting the bagel towards the girl.

"Your highness." Nova rolled her eyes at the comment but took the bagel, setting her hand on his shoulder. "My knight in shining armor."

Shiro smiled at the exchange. "How was your house , Matt? I wish I could have gone." Shiro was quick to change the subject, he couldn't stand the pitying looks anymore, he had enough of those already.

"I think it's safe to say my parents have new favorite child."

"Hopefully Pidge gets used to being second best." Nova responded, flattered that his parents had thought so highly of her.

"Actually the dog was first."

"Right. Well you do have a cute dog." She smiled as Matt laughed at her.

"Still a cat person though?"

Nova raised her eyebrows, giving him a disbelieving look. "Of course. I wouldn't betray their loyalty."

Shiro groaned. The great cat vs dog debate had begun the moment Matt and Nova felt comfortable enough with each other to "fight". So it started only a couple weeks after their first meeting. The argument wasn't serious but rather an inside joke. Shiro, however, despised it. He preferred dogs but he never wanted to be on the end of Nova's rage. He had a feeling it was only a joke with Matt.

"Don't worry Shiro, turtles are still acceptable pets." Nova smirked at her irritated friend. After one of her and Matt's longer discussions Shiro had yelled out that turtles were better and Nova had never let him forget. That outburst had affectively ended the conversation but it came at a price.

Matt gave her a look as if to say "oh really?"

"What?" She questioned.

"You're terrified or turtles." Shiro remarked as Matt pointed his finger at Shiro in confirmation.

" We are all allowed our own opinions."

"Oh? And me liking dogs is an exception?"

Nova smiled at Matt and patted his head. "It's the wrong opinion."

"Oh, look Shiro, it's your shadow." Nova turned her head too quickly and Matt laughed at her reaction to the black haired boy.

"Keith. How are you?" Shiro questioned as Keith stood by their table, unsure what to do until he was motioned to sit down.

"I want to practice some flight modulations but I need an older student to supervise me." He explained to Shiro as Nova and Matt observed the exchange between them.

"Nova can take you." Nova glared at Matt. He just smirked back at her, casually taking another bite out his eggs.

"I'm not prepared enough to supervise someone flying, Matthew."

Keith didn't even glance their way, he only looked at Shiro. "Can you help?" Shiro nodded, standing up and saying a quick goodbye to Nova and Matt before leaving the room with the younger boy following.

"What was that?" Nova rounded on Matt who grinned at her as he took a bite of eggs.

"C'mon. We have to get to class." Matt stood up and stuck out his hand for Nova to take. She rolled her eyes, accepting the help up.

Once they made it to class Nova sat at their usual seats while Matt went to the professor to ask some questions that Pidge had wondered about. He sat down next to Nova as the lesson started, grinning while telling her that Pidge was going to love it here.

Nova found it difficult to focus on her lesson. She kept thinking about Shiro and Josh. It was true that she never liked Josh, nor did she like them as a couple but she knew that Shiro was more upset then he was letting on. She had heard many fights about how Josh couldn't take care of Shiro, with the response that he didn't have to. Nova always wondered what was the one thing Shiro couldn't do himself.

Class finally ended. The moment Nova stepped out the doors her and Matt made their way outside. There was a nice tree they both spent their free time at. Normally Shiro would meet them there after his courses, unfortunately he wasn't answering either of their texts.

"Either he's still with Keith or he's taking this breakup harder than we thought." Nova told Matt as they sat down under the shade of the tree. She couldn't imagine Shiro doing anything reckless after his breakup he had been known for diving headfirst into his work.

" He doesn't seem that upset though." Matt responded as looked around the campus. "Besides he's too busy teaching flyboy." Nova shook her head at Matt's nickname.

"You don't get human emotions."

Matt gave a small smile in response. "Please enlighten me since you have all the answers."

"Have you ever broken up with someone?" Nova asked, trying to gain some perspective.

"No," Matt looked down then quickly looked at Nova with a smirk. "Have you?"

Nova rolled her eyes. " Any relationship, no matter how damaging, impacts a person. Josh has been with Shiro since he was 16. He trusted him, understood him and loved him. It's a part of Shiro that he can't get back."

"I thought you'd be less sympathetic." Nova looked at Matt surprised.

"What?"

He shrugged. "You've just always seemed so comfortable being alone, I thought you'd disapprove of basing your emotions on someone else."

Nova scoffed. That did sound like her. "Maybe I've realized that emotions aren't so easily controlled."

"Is this about flyboy?" Matt questioned as he gave Nova a disgusted face.

"No Matthew, it's about you and Shiro." She shoved him lightly. She paused slightly, worried that her choice of words would sound too cheesy. "Without you guys I think I'd believe everyone should go through life alone."

She looked out the corner of her eye at Matt who had a large smile on his face.

"So nothing to do with the moody mullet wearing kid?" He asked.

"I don't understand why you hate Keith so much."

"I hate him, you love him. It all evens out."

Nova shoved him onto the grass. "You promised you'd stop." She laughed.

"I never keep my promises." She pursued her lips and gave him a disbelieving look but remained silent. In all the time she knew Matt he never once broke a promise or failed to do what he was supposed to.


	6. CHAPTER 6

The following week Nova was so busy with her studies she barely had anytime to see her friends, and even though Matt lived 5 dorms down from her his communications classes were taking just as much time as hers. The only time she had human interaction was in classes or the cafeteria but all the students were just as focused as her to get a good grade. She would have laughed at the sight of a hundred pajama- clad, sleep-deprived college students spilling dinner on their notes if she wasn't one of them.the was a sense of comfort in knowing that all the other students were Struggling just as much as she was.

Each "major" had a series of tests before they left campus for winter break. Aside from the regular classes like physics and astronomy (that were mandatory), Nova had beginners engineering as well as the history of mechanics. Nova was practically drowning in her class work, between physics and calculus, two subjects she loathed, the only break she got was the half hour she spent on her phone before bed. She was just fortunate that the bookstore she worked in had shortened their hours so the students would have more free time to study.

Unfortunately for the trio they each had different ways to study. Shiro made flash cards and had a friend, normally Keith, quiz him. Matt would attend office hours and would end up teaching the professor, which despite being embarrassing for the teacher, would help him understand the concepts. Nova just rewrote her notes and recited them, sometimes going on tangents. She practically refused help, not wanting others to see her struggle with a concept they probably understood perfectly.

Nova hid in the safety of her dorm where she was able to talk out loud for as long as she wanted. Lauren had joined a study group and had even invited Nova to join.

"Are you sure? It's always good to get help." Lauren questioned as she packed up, about to go to the library for a study session.

Nova shook her head, a pile of old notes and stick notes were laid out on her bed. "I'm okay. Thanks though. If I get stuck on a physics question I'll head over."

Lauren nodded. "Well good luck." Surprisingly to Nova, Lauren had become a constant friend in her life. They weren't very close but they looked out for each other.

Nova waved bye at her roommate and was once again met with silence. She tried to crack down and focus but none of the information was sticking. Ultimately giving up for the day, she decided on taking a walk to clear her head. During the past few weeks the outside of the campus had been abandoned in favor of libraries, computer labs and classrooms.

Her stroll was a nice escape from her mountain of work. She tried not to think about problem 7 on her calculus assignment.

"Nova!" She turned, recognizing some of her classmates from engineering.

"Hey!" Nova waved back, pausing as the group started walking towards her. She didn't normally spend time with them outside of class. Sometimes after lecture they'd all go out to eat or sometimes do extra credit in the library but she definitely didn't feel as close to them as she did with Matt and Shiro. They didn't have much in common outside of class.

Brandon, a tall dark skinned boy had been the one to call out to her. He was nice and friendly with a easy personality. She supposed they could have been good friends. Emily and Christian were twins and probably the quietest people Nova had ever met.

Brandon started to ask her how she was doing and how she was studying. Nova explained her system of rewritten notes and reciting them out loud.

"You know, the best way to study is with other people. Your welcome to join us." Nova looked over at Emily and Christian who were nodding slowly.

" I'm alright now. I'm just taking a break."

" Alone? Where are Matt and Shiro?" Nova tried not to look annoyed. She knew people counted them as an inseparable unit. "You're always with them."

"Studying." She replied quickly.

He nodded. "Well we have to go. See you around."

The twins said goodbye as Nova waved them off. She didn't move from her spot, her idea to go on a walk was less than appealing. But studying seemed worse. She hated to admit that Brandon had made her realize that she missed her friends. It really wasn't much fun without them.

Pulling out her phone she found the chat labeled "three musketeers" she had told Matt that it was uncreative to call their trio that. He had just grinned as she went on a rant about how virtually any other group of three would go by the same name. She remembered when she has asked Shiro to back her up and he had suggested "ship crew", which Nova realized was worse then Matt's.

She sent out a brief text, "anyone need a break from studying?"

"yes" Came Matt's reply. He then sent an image of a man sleeping.

"I could use a break." Shiro responded.

"Great," Nova texted. "Let's go to Lou's." Lou's was a small pizza place just a mile from the Garrison. It was popular among to students and luckily for Nova is was inexpensive. The group met up ten minutes later and started the walk. Matt exaggeratedly held his head, complaining about a major headache he had. Shiro always rolled his eyes at Matt's dramatics but occasionally Nova would humor him.

"Oh. No." Pressing her hand over his forehead to check for a fever she gave him an odd look as Matt seized up, looking a little sheepish.

"He's fine Nova." Shiro chined. "Stop worrying about him." Nova responded with a loud laugh, happy that Shiro had decided to play along. This also made Matt feel a little less awkward and soon the group was at the pizza shop.

Shiro had suggested that they each bring some study materials so Nova had brought every single note, book and loose paper she could find.

She tried to enjoy their study session but the stress of her exams and the fact that in a week she'd be back home where her parents would try anything to get her to switch to the medical field were too distracting.

"What about this question?" She moved her notebook in front of Matt and Shiro, who sat together on the opposite side of the table. Matt looked over to Shiro.

"Matt, you know the answer better than all of us."

"Multiple perspectives." He waved away. "Here." He flipped to a page in the textbook.

Nova skimmed through the paragraph. "I'm over this." She complained.

She looked up from her notes expecting to see at least Matt agree with her but instead her two companions seemed to be intently looking at their books. Sighing, she turned back to her assignment.

By the time they had felt like they knew the material all Nova could think of was scientific terms and solutions to fix a broken ship.

With her finals finally completed Nova decided it was time for a well deserved break. Some of the first years on her dorm floor had decided on an end-of-semester party. Every other time there was a party, of any kind, Nova decided against attending. It wasn't in her nature to go put herself in the center of attention, something she feared a party would do. She knew Matt went to some, he went anywhere he was invited. Common courtesy, he had called it. "My mother taught me right." He had told her it was because he was beyond lame in high school. Shiro avoided anything that wasn't educational.

"Shiro," Matt was trying to reason. "when have we ever asked you for anything."

Nova made a face recalling the dozens of times Shiro had done something because they had asked but she kept her mouth closed, in full support of Matt's convincing.

Shiro rolled his eyes and sighed, giving the two a stern look. "It's not my scene. I'd much rather pack up before I leave."

"Then what about movie night?"

"No." Matt exclaimed. "You finally decided to come out." He yelled at Nova.

"If Shiro doesn't go there's no reason for me to stand in the corner of a crowed house by myself." It was an exaggeration, Nova knew that, she just would rather spend the night watching cheesy films than talking to some students from one of her classes.

"What about me?" Matt questioned. Shiro and Nova both laughed.

"Matt, you'd be chasing whoever looks at you."

He waved Shiro off, focusing in Nova who was just giving him a straight face. The staring contest continued as they heard Shiro shuffling some paper around. Nova tried so hard to stay serious but Matt was much better than her at that. He made faces until Nova had no choice but to double over in laughed, alerting Shiro to them.

"Please." She turned to Shiro who sighed.

"You always gang up on me." Nova and Matt shared a victorious smile. "You're both too immature to be left alone." He succumbed.

Nova mocked offense as Matt yelped.

"I'm going to get ready." At her dorm Nova threw all her clothes on her bed. Nothing screamed "party" to her. Not that she knew what a party was like.

"Hey." Lauren announced as she entered the room. "Packing?" She asked.

"Uh no. I guess I'm going to that party. I'm trying to figure out what to wear."

Lauren moved over to Nova. "These shorts are cute." Nova hummed in response. "But your shirts are too baggy."

She gave Lauren an annoyed look, Lauren just shrugged. "You're not going to get any attention if you dress in t shirts."

"I don't want attention." Nova tried to explain. "Matt's forcing me and Shiro to go."

"Ah. Someone got the allusive Takashi to go out."

Nova rolled her eyes. " He's persuasive." Lauren laughed, launching a top at Nova.

"This'll look good on you." The shirt itself was pretty modest, a little lower cut than Nova was used to and a little too tight but that may have been because Lauren was stick thin.

She watched as Lauren came out of the bathroom in a crop top and shorts with a patterned shawl. She started applying makeup. Nova turned to her own mirror. A few pimples littered her face, which Nova was always self conscious about. Sighing she covered up her acne then applied her usual dark eyeshadow and mascara. The major issue was her hair. It tended to lay in frizzy waves.

"You should straighten it." Nova was surprised to hear Lauren, as if she read her thoughts. "Curling it would be too complicated. "

Nova took the suggestion and half an hour later she was waiting by the entrance of her dorm for Matt and Shiro. She had on her shorts with the pale blue top along with a white sweater Lauren had also let her borrow. In complete honesty she wouldn't want to be caught dead in these clothes. She did have to admit that she looked like a university student, maybe a little older than she was.

"Matt." She called as she saw a short boy walk past her.

"Nova?" He walked a few steps towards her. "You look different."

Her eyebrows raised in half annoyance half amusement. "I mean you look fine, good. You look good. Just different. Not bad different just..."

Nova waved him off. "I feel ridiculous." She admitted as she tried to cover up.

"Your hair looks nice." She reaches up to grab a chunk, admiring the smoothness.

"Thanks." They were silent for a moment, Nova notice Matt uncharacteristically focused on the sky.

"Where's Shiro?" She decided to ask. His punctuality was now being question.

Matt shrugged. It was even a minute later when a very uncomfortable Shiro walked up.

"Nova, you look great."

"Thanks." She beamed, catching a small exchange from her two companions, one of which still wasn't meeting her eyes.

The party itself wasn't much for Nova to get excited over. The music was loud and the students were louder. Boys would come up and offer her drinks, some of which she took. It wasn't long before she felt her brain go fuzzy. Everything seemed funnier, she was full of complete adoration for everyone in the room.

She had just finished a conversation with one of her classmates about who was dreading home the most when a voice yelled "slingshot". They were almost trampled as a stampede of drunk students ran to the street to catapult a watermelon. She was vaguely aware that she was closer to someone she didn't know. Physically closer. Usually she liked 3 feet, maybe 2 if she was close to them. She started panicking. The boy she had been talking to lead her away from the crowd. He grabbed some ice and handed it over.

"Don't worry, it's just water." Gratefully she took a sip, relieved that he was telling the truth.

"Where's Holt?" She heard him ask some girl who had wondered into the room. She giggled at the thought of Matt coming to save her. Minutes later a very concerned Matt walked in.

"Hi." Nova breathed. She always felt safe around him.

"I'll take her back."

"Where's dad?" She asked as she stumbled towards her dorm, clinging to Matt as he kept her balanced.

"You kinda left us for a while. Shiro left early."

Nova frowned at his short answer. Poking at him she made him look as she haves him an exaggerated sad face.

"You're a clingy drunk." She continued to hold onto him. She smiled widely.

"It's because I lack physical affection." She thought she sounded smart but her explanation came out slowly. "I don't remember the last time someone hugged me." She exclaimed, surprised.

"I did. Two nights ago." She burst out as Matt's clipped voice answered.

"You're funny. Like the funniest." She stopped walking. She smiled as she faced Matt.

"Creepy. C'mon. Where's your keys." She shot her hand towards him as he carefully opened the door. She fell onto her bed, groaning at the soft sheets and fluffy pillows.

Matt poked Nova a few times, he even whispered her name but once he realized she was out he quietly took of her shoes. He grabbed her water bottle to fill it up in the sink. He hadn't dealt with a drunk Nova before. It was actually his first experience taking care of anyone who had as many drinks as she had. He wasn't sure if he should stay. What if she choked on vomit. That had happened on an old show he used to watch.

Moving her trash can to the edge of her bed he turned her head to the side.

"Goodnight Nova." He whispered as he left her.


	7. Chapter 7

As four years passed their trio slowly grew. First Keith officially joined the Garrison and became the fourth member, he added a little bit of seriousness to their usually hyperactive group members. Nova had cheered when she realized they had to change their group name, which concluded as Matt had dubbed them "the fab four", a name she hated more. Next came Adam. Nova prided herself in knowing that it was her that introduced the shy boy to them. He was a smart boy in a few of her classes who she noticed kept looking at Shiro. She invited him to one of their movie nights when she realized Shiro looked at him too. She tried to be as involved in their relationship, playing moderator and giving advice. She felt responsible for anything that had happened since they started dating, because of this the other boys tried to separate her from the "ugly" side of the couple.

The group soon found that neither could decide on what to do when they hung out. One thing they could all agree on was movie nights. She loved their movie nights. Her fourth year she was fortunate enough to have a single person apartment so she usually hosted them. She was lucky enough to wrap Matt into helping her set up, even if she just had the company while she prepared snacks and cleaned the apartment. Sometimes Keith would also come over early and the three would gossip about Shiro and Adam. Keith practically spent every night at the couple's house, often sharing tales of their morning rituals of oatmeal, coffee and daily crosswords as Keith desperately tried for his surrogate parents to buy him pop tarts. Keith rarely had a negative word to describe the two boys, both were good hearted.

"I just don't get why you won't go out with him." Nova sent Matt a harsh glare. She thought he had dropped the subject a few days ago when Keith had walked in on their argument. He wouldn't drop the subject, which irritated Nova more and more. He was talking about a boy in their class named Trevor. He was tall, blonde and smart. They got along well but Nova wasn't quite able to open up to him. She knew she should want to go out with boys, she always envisioned numerous dates and flowers, maybe she'd even fall in love. But at that moment the only thing she wanted to do with a boy was slap the one sitting in front of her.

"Do I have to go out with any boy that asks me out?" She crossed her arms, staring at her companion. He casually sat on the couch eating their entire ration of popcorn.

He shrugged. "I thought you liked him."

"You only say that because I'm nice to him. I'm nice to you and half the time I'd like to punch you." She gave him a closed lipped smile, her sarcasm evident.

Matt relaxed and laughed just as there was a knock at the door. "Not it." He screamed, quickly pushing his index finger to his nose. Nova smirked as she realized she had beat him at his own game.

Groaning he launched himself off of the couch and opened the door. The other three walked in, Shiro and Adam looking like the suburban dads to a rebellious kid. Shiro and Adam night as well have been wearing matching outfits, both had their garrison jacket and dark jeans while Keith wore his red bomber jacket with a headband.

"Nice." Nova pointed fo the younger boys head as he groaned.

"I told you it was one." Keith argued, giving the headband back to Adam.

"Wait," Matt said as he grabbed it out of his hand. Pulling the fabric between his thumb and index finger her shot it right into Shiro's face.

Shiro gave the two an unimpressed but decided against scolding them.

"So what movie?" Keith asked as the group perched themselves in the living room. Because Nova only had a couch and a small chair Shiro, Adam and Keith usually took ownership of the couch, Nova said it was because they were guests. "I'm a guest too." Matt would argue only to be met with four disbelieving looks. "I think you're here more than me." Nova had mentioned.

They had just settled in for the long debate over which film would be next. As much as Nova denied it, her choice was always romantic comedies.

"Sharknado." Matt blurted out.

"No." Chorused the three boys on the couch.

"Oh. I got Nova." He cheered realizing the girl hadn't refused.

"I love those movies." She admitted before quoting a scene from the first one. "Zombie tidal wave." She joked, eliciting another groan.

"Let Keith pick." Nova looked over to the quiet boy.

"I don't have a favorite movie." Shiro then suggested a film that Keith would like but neither Nova, Matt or Adam had heard of it.

"So clearly it's up to us three." Nova nodded as Adam gave a light laugh.

They eventually decided on Back to the Future, coming to the conclusion that they'd have the next two movie nights planned out.

Shiro looked down at his two friends, who were quoting the movie by heart, even gesturing when the characters on the screen did. Matt played the hyperactive scientist, which Shiro thought fit while Nova was the young musician. They were almost more entertaining to watch. Adam seemed to enjoy the movie too even Keith was interested. His eyes moved from the two college students to the screen.

"So she fell in love with her son?" Keith asked, he had been slightly disturbed as the plot played out. Shiro tried to answer but was met by the overlapping explanations of the two on the ground.

"Isn't he swell?" Nova asked mockingly as she laughed at Matt's glare. Ever since one of their movie nights included The Breakfast Club Nova has used the word "swell" at least once while watching a movie. Matt usually would wince, claiming he hated the word but his complaint never went beyond that. Nova figured that one day she'd get a rise out of him, and it made Shiro laugh.

"We're out of popcorn." Adam interjected.

"I'll help you get some." Shiro replied, getting up as Adam stood up.

"No." Shiro sat back down, a frown on his face. Nova and Matt exchanged glances and eyebrow raised that ultimately ended with Nova pushing herself off the ground to figure out why Adam was angry.

"You okay?" She questioned as she walked over to the older boy. She was lucky the kitchen was separated from the tv room.

Adam scoffed and shook his head. "Shiro just won't listen."

"Ah." Nova nodded. "I thought you knew that." Her lighter tone just aggravated Adam more as he gave her a stern look.

"What happened?" She relented.

Adam looked at her, contemplating whether or not to unleash his issues on her.

"Shiro is going to space," He paused as Nova'a face turned excited. "And he won't come back alive."

Novas face dropped in understanding. It was no secret between the five of them that Shiro would die young.

"I mean Kerberos is months away. He won't make it back." Adam started a rant. Nova knew to stop it before he went off on a trajectory but she was too surprised to hear such a specific moon mentioned.

"Kerberos?" Nova noticed Adam's face go pale. He started to desperately take back what he had said but it was too late. Nova had heard him loud and clear.

"Matt didn't tell you?" He saw a bit of hurt in her eyes but she remained with her questioning glare.

She turned the corner to see the three boys throwing candies at eachother. "No." She shook her head. "How long is the trip?"

"I think it's just making camp out there to collect minerals then straight back."

"Who's going?"

Adam tried to cover up his mistake but Nova could be intimidating when she wanted. He stuttered as he explained what his boyfriend had told him. He just shrugged. "As far as I know it's Shiro, Matt and Mr. Holt."

Nova tried not to be hurt, it was just a short mission. Despite that it must still cost a lot of money, too much money to have two engineers. She had just expected that when her two partners went on a trip into space she'd be there too.

Adam finished putting the popcorn in a bowl and silently brought it out to the others. Nova stayed in the kitchen. She heard Matt ask where she was and soon after he spoke from the entrance of the kitchen.

"So Adam told you?"

"Why didn't you?" She tried to maintain a steady voice and despite her small shake she thought she did a good job.

"It wasn't a for sure thing."

"Liar." She laughed when Matt looked confused. "The garrison has been trying to get your dad's expertise out on the field for years. It's a sure thing."

"Then I didn't know how to tell you."

"Adam was able to tell Shiro just fine."

"And look where they are now?"

It seemed that Keith was in the middle of two fighting duos. He noticed, as he walked into the kitchen, that the argument in the living room had a more vicious cycle.

In the kitchen Matt looked incredibly guilty while Nova stood hurt, watery eyes and all. Keith had known Nova for years and he knew it didn't take much for her to cry but it did take a lot for her to be hurt. She looked devastated.

"Keith would agree, right?" Nova turned to look at the young boy as Matt brought him to her attention.

"Agree with what?"

Matt winced. "That I couldn't tell Nova about Kerberos until it was confirmed."

"Why isn't Nova going?" Keith questioned, to him Nova seemed just as qualified for a space exploration.

They older two stopped bickering. Nova gave Matt a quick look before turning to Keith.

"Only a few people can go on this mission." She tried to sound understanding but she wondered the same thing. Would her chance to go into space ever happen.

"So, why are you angry?" Nova gave a defeated sigh as Matt agreed with Keith. He nodded along as Keith looked confused.

"I'm not angry." Unfortunately Nova's voice raised a bit at her defense only making the two boys laugh.

"I just don't get why it was so hard to tell me." Matt shrugged like their fight was over, which it pretty much was. Nova could never stay mad at Matt and he wasn't much of a fighter.

The same couldn't be said for the couple in the other room. Nova could hear the back and forth arguments, mainly consisting of Shiro's disregard for his own safety and Adam's feeling of betrayal.

Keith watched as the two older students shared a look before silently peeking around the corner.

"You never cared what this disease will do to me!" Adam yelled.

"This is my last chance to go into space! What don't you understand?" Nova knew she had to break up their fight she was lucky they never threw punches the way they did words but it could still be damaging. Matt was too small to push between the and Nova was surprisingly strong and sturdy given her clumsy nature.

"Stop!" She yelled as she stood between the two men.

Adam and Shiro both backed away from each other as Nova stood her ground. She stalled in surprise only to respond with a shake of her head.

"You both have valid opinions." They gave her an unimpressed glance at her mediation before turning back to eachother.

"Takashi," Adam started. "I need a few hours." With that Adam rushed out of the apartment leaving a shell shocked Shiro surrounded by the people who looked up to him the most. Nova wasn't surprised when an awkward silence settled across the room. Poor Keith looked so out of place, especially considering his lack of a part in all the drama.

"I should leave." Shiro announced. Nova didn't even have the energy to pretend that I'd be fine if he stayed. "Keith, lets go."

Nova shut the door as the two quickly left. She turned, leaning onto the door. Matt stood in front of her, completely silent.

"So much for movie night." Nova tried to joke, neither quite willing to forget what had happened.

"Yeah." Matt said dismissively. "You know I didn't mean to hurt you." He urged, trying to meet her eye.

"I know." Nova said absentmindedly. The best she could do was try to ignore how disappointed she felt, there'd be other times to go into space.

Matt stopped her by lightly touching her arm. "Hurting you is the last thing I wanted."

Nova was met by two very big, very brown eyes and she suddenly felt ten degrees hotter. She let out a nervous laugh before averting her eyes.

"I know that." She then let out a cheer. "But space!" She yelled. She started listing off all the constellations and planets and moons he would be able to see. She could tell he was just following her around her apartment as she half heartedly picked up various pillows and snacks from earlier that night.

Shiro's friendship with Nova changed a bit after the movie night. He saw her as automatically siding with Adam because, she too was being left in favor of the mission to the moon. She tried to tell him differently, she was remaining impartial, but he wouldn't hear it. He had seen her comfort Adam numerous times since the movie night.

"Don't worry." Matt told her as they walked around the school. They had just passed the pilot who had only given them a polite nod. 'He's just keeping his distance." He tried to get Nova's attention as she watched Shiro walk away. Matt had told Nova that Shiro felt guilty about their trip to Kerberos, Shiro thought he should've tried harder to get a fourth seat on the ship.

"Here." Matt said, gaining her attention. In his hand held a paper rose. He looked away as he handed her the flower.

She was slightly taken aback but reached for it anyway. She gave a soft smile as she noticed how the petals moved. "When'd you learn to do this?" She questioned as she saw his red face. He began to go into great detail on the difficulty as well as the numerous video tutorials he had watched.

She didn't notice how her companion's eyes watched her as she carefully turned the flower over, inspecting it with great detail with a red face.


End file.
